Prosecuting Attorney releases May 24 court proceedings

May 29, 2013

The following criminal matters were heard by Chief Judge Mark A. Karl on May 24, 2013:

Ronald A. Morgan III appeared with attorney Shane Mallett, who was substituting for the afternoon for attorney Kevin Neiswonger. Morgan is the subject of an indictment issued by the October, 2012 term of the grand jury. Morgan had previously had his bond revoked for failing to appear and he was subsequently arrested on a capias warrant issued by Judge Karl. During the hearing, Morgan waived his speedy trial right and the case was continued to the next term of court. Morgan's bond was also reinstated.

Marty L. Wilkerson was transported to court from Huttonsville Correctional Center. Wilkerson entered guilty pleas to prohibited person in possession of a firearm and domestic battery earlier this year. Wilkerson had been incarcerated since November. Attorney Shane Mallet appeared on his behalf for Kevin Neiswonger. Judge Karl heard a motion relative to modification of his sentence. There being no objection by the State, the balance of Wilkerson's one-year sentence on the firearm charge was suspended and he was released on two years of supervised probation.

Dwayne Ueltschy appeared with his attorney, John Gainer of the Public Defender Corp. Ueltschy was indicted in February for various counts of forgery and uttering of American Express Travelers' Cheques that were stolen from a foreign exchange student in Paden City.

At the hearing, Ueltschy entered guilty pleas to two counts of forgery and four counts of uttering. He was sentenced to 1 to 10 years in prison on count one, and 1 to 10 years each on counts three through four. The sentence on count one was imposed, and the sentences on counts three through four will be suspended at the completion of his incarceration on count one. He was also ordered to pay restitution. The balance of the indictment was dismissed.

Howard Shriver appeared with his attorney, Shirley J. Stanton. Shriver was indicted in February.

At the hearing, Shriver waived his speedy trial right and the case was continued to the next term of court. Shriver's attorney also made a motion to sever counts one and two from the indictment and sought a separate trial on those counts.

Prosecuting Attorney Luke Furbee objected to the motion, however, he expressed that if the court would grant the motion, the State would elect to try the balance of the indictment first. Judge Karl did not rule on the motion during the hearing.

He expressed that he desired to research the matter further and took the motion under advisement.